A Word of Caution
by Taliya
Summary: When Haibara Ai receives a warning regarding the life of her best friend, she literally grabs the best man for the job. Rated for language. Written for Poirot Café's Prompt Exchange #4.
Detective Conan and Magic Kaito characters, settings, and ideas do not belong to me but to Aoyama Gōshō.

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Warnings: Minor violence and language, Mystery Train arc spoilers

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A Word of Caution

By Taliya

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Prompt: The only person Haibara Ai will listen to.

Word Count: 5735

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 _Sherry-_

 _A stray hidden ear caught on the sly  
What another vintage had murmured.  
The ace may be found under crosshairs  
Unless Holmes makes his reappearance._

 _-Kaitou KID_

Somehow finding that note on her nightstand Saturday morning was both a surprise and not, despite the fact that she had not made contact with the phantom thief in over two years. But regardless, the warning set a shot of ice skittering and clawing down her spine as her mind raced. She blinked once, twice, as she blearily read the note the first time, her brain having not quite caught up with the act of physically waking up. The last two lines jarred her half-asleep noggin into terrified wakefulness as she read the note once more. _Who_ had discovered Kudou's secret, aside from Vermouth and the deceased Irish? Bourbon? Gin? _Rum?_

 _…_ _Ano Kata…?_

Was _she_ still considered safe, as well as dead? And how in the _world_ had KID acquired such intelligence?

The incident on the Mystery Train had left Haibara Ai, formerly Miyano Shiho and codenamed Sherry, with a deep, abiding sense of respect and gratitude for the internationally wanted magician. It was he who had enabled her to fake her death, to free her permanently from the clutches of the Organization. Combined with the fact that he had both had a gun pointed at his face in her stead and had flirted with death in the process himself, Ai knew without a doubt that this was one debt she would never fully pay off in this lifetime. And even now, despite the fact that _she_ owed _him,_ KID was still helping her and Shinichi in their silent war against the Organization.

 _You need to_ calm the hell down _, Ai,_ she chided herself, only then realizing that she had been on the verge of hyperventilating. _You're no good to anyone if you're a gibbering mess._ She squeezed her eyes shut to block out the too-bright colors of her room to concentrate on steadying her breaths, cupping her hands over her nose and mouth as she did so. Once she felt sufficiently in control of herself once more, she picked up the slip of paper that had fallen onto the surface of her quilt and reread it slowly, carefully dissecting every word and its possible connotations and nuances.

 _'_ _A stray hidden ear caught on the sly'—most likely a tapped line or some other form of eavesdropping,_ she thought. _Standard Organization procedure, though I wouldn't have known had I never met Kudou. 'What another vintage had murmured.' Vintage. I highly doubt KID would refer to a particular time period unless he was referring to seasons of grapes, which implies wine. Of the members, Vermouth knows, but Kir and Chianti do not. But considering 'The ace may be found under crosshairs' indicates sniping, so I'm betting it's Chianti he's referring to. But… 'Unless Holmes makes his reappearance'?_

Ai sat, deep in thought as she worked out the logistics. _Chianti's aware that Edogawa is Kudou, but I somehow need Kudou to show up with Edogawa in tow._ Her brows furrowed. _The latest iteration of the antidote is still unstable, and Kudou's already built up a rather sturdy resistance to the antidote in general. I'm not sure how many more times he can take it before he is unable to revert to his original age entirely, and I don't want to risk it any more than I have to._ Her eyes dropped back to the warning notice in her hand, and an idea began to form. _Maybe…_

* * *

The darkened hallways of the museum were perfect for her purposes. Ai was undeniably relieved that KID had a heist planned that very evening, as it allowed her an opportunity to talk to him. She _had_ to, as she had no other means of contacting the elusive magician. Conan was out for this heist, having been dragged off by Ran and her father on an out of town case a few days prior. It meant he was safe from Chianti for the moment, and it allowed her time to scheme without his interference. The soft, steady footfalls tapping down the hallway brought her back to the present. A gentle chuckle confirmed her quarry, and from the crevice she had planted herself in, she jettisoned out, using a foot braced against the wall to add speed to her exit in order to plow sideways into a totally unprepared phantom thief. The pair teetered obliquely and awkwardly, the thief pin wheeling his arms for balance as Ai clung to his midsection. Eventually gravity won out, and the two tumbled into a—conveniently open—janitorial closet.

Kaitou KID landed on the suspiciously cleared out floor with a surprised grunt, and Ai quickly detached herself from the thief to scramble up and close the door, leaving the two of them in darkness. There was shuffling from the magician, and Ai assumed the man was in the process of righting himself, as well as accessing his options. She guarded the door, as she was not going to allow him to escape before she had had her say.

"Magician in the Moonlight-san," she greeted, and the addressed thief stilled completely, evidenced by the abrupt silence.

"Ojou-san," he answered lightly, though Ai detected a hint of wariness threaded through his tone. "I must say there are—less obvious ways of getting my _particular_ attention." He paused before adding on, "Though to be frank, you _do_ sound a little young…"

 _Oh, he's a smooth one,_ she thought as he talked, for she could tell as he spoke that he had been positioning himself for a clean, easy escape. She clicked on her flashlight in his direction, blinding him. "Wasn't interested in that," she stated, watching with amusement as the thief tried to uselessly shield his face from the light with his cape, a canister of what must have been his signature pinkish sleeping gas held in his other hand. "Rather, I have a request to ask of you." She shut off the light. "And I won't tell anyone what you look like," she added, her voice gentle, "not when you've saved my life once at the risk of your own."

There was another rustle of cloth, followed by a fragmented _crack_ as a green glow stick illuminated the dark storage closet interior. The light cast an eerie hue on the normally white thief, the shadows cutting sharp edges across his face and body. He knelt, the green light baring the side of his grinning face with the monocle and completely shadowing the other half. His single visible eye gazed at her, studied her, and recognition made it sparkle. "The Mystery Train," he murmured, and suddenly there were crafty angles to his smirk. "Sherry."

Ai reflexively stiffened at the appellation, though she did not deny it.

"I take it you've found my note?" he asked, and though his facial expression laughed, his tone was as serious as she had ever heard it.

She nodded. "I have," she confirmed, and now that she was actually in front of the infamous Kaitou KID, her confidence wavered. Taking a fortifying breath, she murmured, "I need your help." She was so unused to relying on anyone aside from her late sister, Akemi, that it was difficult to push her pride aside. But Kudou's life was at stake, and Ai was willing to do just about anything to keep her friend safe.

KID blinked. "And what would you need a humble thief such as myself for?" he asked gently, seeming to have picked up on her difficulty with getting the words out.

A mischievous, hopeful smile curved Ai's lips. "Aside from shocking the piss out of a certain 'ace'?"

A matching grin brightened KID's face. "I _knew_ there was a reason I liked you," the thief said as he quietly cackled. He handed her a slip of paper. "Encrypted number. Call me in an hour."

And then he was gone, leaving Ai feeling much more optimistic and assured of Kudou's survival.

* * *

"I don't understand why you had to insist on me spending the night at Hakase's," nine-year-old Edogawa Conan griped as he shuffled out the door with Ai. It was Sunday morning, and the Mouris had returned home last night. The shrunken detective had, at Ai's request, been delivered straight to Agasa's home for a "sleepover," and he was positively sulking because he had barely missed Kaitou KID's heist.

The shrunken scientist had not felt the need to inform him of her motive for keeping him away from the Mouri Detective Agency; she knew that he would react like a bloodhound on the trail of a scent: relentless, stubborn, and single-minded in his determination. She was not about to let him run straight into a potty-mouthed, ill-tempered sniper with more than a chip off her shoulder.

"You didn't even run _tests_!" Conan complained behind her. "And where are we going?"

 _Wow, is_ he _grumpy without his morning caffeine,_ she thought as she strolled ahead of him, tugging the baseball cap further over her face, her strawberry blonde hair tucked underneath the hat. "We're meeting someone," she replied, striving to keep her voice even so as not to relay to her friend just how utterly anxious and terrified she actually was for his sake. Her eyes darted from building to building as if she could spot a veteran sniper, but intellectually Ai knew it was a lost cause. Still she edgily continued towards the agreed rendezvous point, her nerves finally getting the better of her and she fell back to Conan's side to grasp his hand in hers.

Conan glanced worriedly at her. "Haibara…?" he asked, his voice heavy with concern.

"I'm fine," she stated, though her voice quavered just enough to tip her friend off that she was most definitely _not_ fine.

"Haibara," the bespectacled boy reiterated, pulling her to a stop with their joined hands. "What's wrong?"

Ai shook her head. "Nothing," she answered quickly, tugging him forcefully towards Beika Park. "Come on."

The boy followed clumsily until he regained his footing, his concern only increasing as Ai quickened her strides. "Haibara!" he called, tugging on her hand as they entered the park at a very brisk trot. "Haibara, please, what's wrong?"

By now Ai's paranoia had fully consumed her mind, and her only thought was to get Kudou to the meeting location. She pulled on his arm as her stride lengthened into a run, her breaths coming quicker and shallower, and distantly she realized she was on the verge of hyperventilating once again. Panic overrode her common sense, and she released Conan's hand and _ran_. She barely heard Conan curse and give chase while calling her name.

Strong arms broke her momentum and swept her off her feet as she yelped, and she struggled in her unknown captor's grasp. "Hey there, Haibara," said a familiar male voice, and she froze as she gazed up into concerned azure eyes. Her rather gentle captor grinned crookedly as he supported her weight until she regained her balance, though he kept his hands on her shoulders to steady her. "Deep breaths," he coached, having noticed her rather frenzied state as he stared into her eyes, willing her to calm down.

"HAIBARA!" Ai wrenched herself from the man's grasp, turning to see Conan skidding to a halt, his eyes widening as he took in her companion and released a strangled noise.

"Edogawa-kun," she said in a much more serene voice, her equilibrium resolved now that the two were within kicking distance of each other. Mischief colored her voice. "Aren't you going to say hello to your cousin?"

Kudou Shinichi held his hand up in a casual wave. "'lo, Conan-kun," he greeted, smiling down at the gaping boy.

"You—you're—" Conan stuttered, too shocked at seeing _himself_ to form a coherent sentence. "KI—"

Kudou casually stuffed his hands in his pockets. "Now, now," he chided, "no need to go spilling secrets when we are under _careful watch_ ," and the subtle emphasis of specific words promptly shut the young detective prodigy up as his brain finally caught on to their situation.

Conan turned a dark, scorching glare onto his fellow shrunken companion. " _Haibara…"_ he growled.

Ai crossed her arms over her chest as she lifted her chin, unwilling to back down from her actions. "What?" she replied somewhat snippily, daring him to argue with her.

He stalked up to her. "What game are you playing at Haibara, exposing yourself out here with one of _Them_ somewhere nearby? And with _KID_ of all people?" Conan hissed angrily as he leaned close enough to shade his face under the bill of her cap.

The girl glowered at her friend and snapped back quietly enough to not be overheard, "I'm saving your life, _Kudou-kun_." She internally relished Conan's startled, wide-eyed stare.

* * *

While his two young companions quietly bickered about something, Shinichi checked his watch, fumbling with what looked like a sports-intentioned gadget with a large display. He hummed, panning through the various camera angles before he found what he was looking for, then pulled out a phone he had snitched from a pocket a minute prior and dialing a number. The movement caught the younger male's eyes, and though both Conan and Ai turned to watch him, the boy did a double take upon realizing that "Shinichi's" phone was no longer in his pocket. Shinichi had to suppress a grin at Conan's reaction.

Before the younger boy could object, the older detective spoke into the phone. "Ah, good morning, Megure-keibu," he greeted cheerily, seemingly unaware of the suddenly intent stares of both children as he began to walk in circles around them. "The package will be at the top of Beika Hotel—Yes—Yes, and please hurry," he added, peering at his watch once more as he casually maneuvered himself into the line of sight between the hotel and the children. "Thank you, Keibu." The teenager flipped the phone shut and tucked it in a pocket before locking eyes with Ai. "ETA seven minutes," he said, and the strawberry blonde nodded tensely.

With the three of them now acutely aware of the sniper scope trained on them—though the bullet(s?) had yet to be fired—Shinichi cleared his throat and gamely asked, "So what would you like to do?" He tacked on in a quieter voice, "Might I suggest, at least until I receive the all clear, of staying away from highly-populated areas?"

The two children nodded in agreement, and Conan chirped gleefully, "Soccer?" after spotting the familiar black and white sphere not too far from where they had gathered. He jogged over to the ball and began dribbling it with the ease of experience.

Shinichi chuckled. "I was bouncing it on my feet while waiting for you two, so why not?" he asked, his eyes flicking every now and then either in the direction of the Beika Hotel, which he could see over the tops of the park's trees, or at the face of his watch. He noticed with a bit of amusement that both Ai and Conan tried to catch a glimpse what it was he was looking at, but he ensured that all they saw was a glossy, featureless black screen.

The mismatched trio spent the next several minutes passing the ball between them, none of them bothering to comment on the rather tense atmosphere surrounding them. Shinichi continued to periodically check his watch while keeping himself between Conan and the hotel, and as the seven-minute mark neared, he bowed out of their game of passing the ball, instead preferring to watch the two while keeping an eye on the hotel. Then without warning he leapt at the boy, shouting frantically, "DUCK!" while covering Conan with his own body as the sound of gunfire echoed through the air. A small eruption in the grass several meters away gave reason for Shinichi's rather spastic reaction, showering them with bits of greenery and dirt. "Come on!" the teen yelled, yanking the two off the ground and leading them out of the open.

There was a distant _bang_ , which was quickly followed by a brittle _crunch_ as a tree nearby shuddered violently. The three turned, though only Shinichi's eyes widened in horror as his eyes focused on the terrifying image of an athletic redhead clad in black ziplining from the roof of the Beika Hotel amidst police gunfire. Her sniper rifle was slung on her back, and she had her attention split between returning fire with a handgun and watching her approach with the tree anchoring her line. The two kids caught on a moment later, and the teenaged detective did not need to spur them on when he screamed, _"RUN!"_ even as he distantly registered the wail of police sirens.

They turned and fled, trying to put as much distance between them and the assassin as possible. Shinichi hurried the two children along, lagging behind the two to give them as much cover as he could provide. A bullet grazed his cheek as he ran, and he flinched even as the sound of gunfire in their direction incentivized the three to sprint faster. The older detective's cheek stung, yet he knew without a doubt that he was merely collateral damage this time: her target was the boy running before him. Another shot rang out, followed by a third that burned a hole in his pants, and he thanked whatever god listening that she had not taken out his knee. Six more shots, fired consecutively, went wide.

 _What can I do?_ he thought frantically. _I can't break character or she'll double her efforts to kill Kudou, but damn it all if Meitantei is completely_ useless _as a teenager! All he's known for aside from his brains are his stupid soccer ball kicks. But if Edogawa is here…_ Shinichi spun on his heel and dropped a smoke bomb, engulfing the trio in a thick haze as he shouted out, "Get down!" The cloudy shield would not last long, as they were outside and there was a breeze, but it provided the opportunity he needed to take the assassin out. Pulling out another smoke capsule—this one filled with sleeping gas—he chucked it in the woman's direction. He jumped when Conan pressed against his leg, watch face open and aimed, and fingers ready to deploy a soporific dart at the assassin. Shinichi grinned and rolled another sleeping gas bomb from his sleeve into his palm. Another body pressed against his other leg, and he glanced down to find Ai hiding behind him, though there was frightened determination in her eyes. A bubble of pride expanded in his chest, seeing as she was willingly facing her—very literal—demons in order to protect those she cared for.

The haziness of his initial smoke bomb finally cleared, and the three picked out the form of the assassin on the grass face down, her handgun a meter away from her outstretched right hand. Motioning for the two kids to remain a safe distance behind him, Shinichi cautiously approached the still form. He quickly kicked the handgun out of easy reach before unbuckling the strap holding the sniper rifle to her torso and tossing it in the direction of the handgun, thereby visibly unarming her. He swiftly bound her arms securely behind her back with a string of scarves, repeating the process with her feet before he impersonally frisked her for any remaining weaponry. Spare ammunition, two small, concealable handguns, and four blades of various sizes later, the detective had recovered all of the assassin's weapons. He had glanced at her facial features as he worked, noting that her most identifiable feature besides her cropped red hair was the burgundy tattoo of a single swallowtail butterfly wing on and around her left eye.

It was only as the police cars pulled up that he realized that the sirens had, all this time, been steadily closing in on their location in Beika Park. A surreptitious glance around revealed that all of the smoke had fully dissipated, and he mentally heaved a sigh of relief.

Inspector Megure Juuzo, along with Assistant Inspector Satou Miwako, Sergeant Takagi Wataru, and a handful of other officers tumbled out of their vehicles with weapons drawn and swiftly made their way towards the standing trio and their sleeping captive. "Kudou-kun!" the three ranked officers chorused upon seeing him.

"Megure-keibu, Satou-keiji, Takagi-keiji," Shinichi greeted somewhat breathlessly, his cheeks flushed and hair ruffled from his run.

"You're not hurt, are you, Kudou-kun?" asked Takagi. He then spotted both Ai and Conan standing somewhat behind the teenaged detective and exclaimed with surprise, "Conan-kun! And Ai-chan!" His outcry pulled the other two's attention from where they were supervising their subordinates cuffing and moving the prone redhead into the backseat of one of the vehicles while others tagged and bagged the ammunition and various weapons. "What are you doing here?"

"Takagi-keiji," Shinichi asked as he controlled his breathing, willing his heart rate to slow, "Do you know why the sniper was up there to begin with?"

The sergeant shook his head as both Megure and Satou crowded in to hear the teenager's explanation. "You never did say why we needed to apprehend her, Kudou-kun," the inspector said, and their faith in Shinichi's word alone astounded him. "You only said there was someone up there who was going to kill someone else."

Shinichi exhaled, and now that the adrenaline was wearing off, he could acutely feel how worn out he was. "I had been tipped off that she was going to go after someone. Specifically—" and here he pointed at a blinking Conan, "—him."

The three officers expressed various amounts of shock. "But— _why?_ " Satou asked, clearly unable to comprehend why a professional hit man had marked nine-year-old Edogawa Conan as a threat important enough to be taken out.

The teenager shrugged, glancing at the boy in question. The two children had, by now, ambled over to complete the small circle formed by Shinichi and the three police detectives. "I couldn't tell you. Maybe he saw something he shouldn't have seen on one of his cases. Who knows? But regardless, the tip came from Kaitou KID."

If the three policemen were surprised before, they were utterly stunned now. "K—Kaitou KID?!" they shouted in unison, drawing the attention of all of the officers they had brought with them to the park.

Shinichi hummed in affirmation and nodded as he produced a note that was nearly identical to the one Ai had received—the only differences were that the addressee, Sherry, had been omitted, and that the allusion to Vermouth had been referred to as "fellow"—and therefore the warning was clean of any overt leads to the Organization. There was no need for good men and women to die at the hands of cold-blooded killers. He held it out for the inspector to take in as evidence.

The three police officers huddled together as they read the notice several times, thinking through the clues the phantom thief had given. Shinichi discretely slipped his borrowed phone back into Conan's pocket, all the while watching the officers mutter their way through the riddle. After several minutes of waiting he interrupted softly, "Keibu, I sort of really do need to get going…"

Megure looked up to find Shinichi smiling somewhat sheepishly at him and frowned. "But we still need to get your statement…"

"I can give it now," the teenaged detective hurriedly interjected, "but I really do need to leave." He studiously ignored the pointed, irritated, and yet somehow amused smirk coming from a certain shrunken detective.

The inspector glanced at Takagi, and the man stepped away and pulled his notepad out of his breast pocket. Flipping to a blank page, he began the usual list of questions. "Kudou-kun, in your own words, please tell me…"

* * *

"What was that about, Haibara?" Conan demanded as soon as the pair of them had returned to the professor's house. It was now early afternoon. The pair of them had been detained by the police after police after the disguised KID had revealed what he could regarding the note. The two then had their statements taken before they were able to leave the scene.

The shrunken scientist glanced at her companion. "What did it look like, Kudou-kun?" she asked blandly in response.

The bespectacled boy snorted. "You were working with KID and managed to capture Chianti," he stated flatly. "Why was I her hit?"

Ai sighed. "I received a note from KID yesterday morning warning me that she had somehow overheard Vermouth mentioning that Edogawa Conan and Kudou Shinichi were one and the same—and that if you were someone important enough to Vermouth to keep quiet about, then what better way to rub her the wrong way than by eliminating that person? Of course," she tacked on, "that is my own conjecture."

"Sounds reasonable enough," Conan sighed after several moments of serious deliberation. He pulled the glasses off and rubbed his face with his free hand. "I can't think of any other reason she would go after me, considering she barely knew who I was as I am now, and has never met me before I was poisoned." He absently wiped the lenses clean with the tail of his shirt before replacing them on his nose.

The strawberry blonde hummed. "If you want a different point of view and possibly some answers, you'll have to do some chasing," she said, obliquely hinting at the cause of the whole debacle.

Conan grinned in anticipation. "I'll just have to make sure he doesn't run away quite as quickly this time, won't I?"

"Like you've ever truly cornered him before," Ai scoffed.

The grin turned into a scowl. "Can't you have even a _smidgeon_ of faith in me?" he complained.

Deep blue eyes rolled in exasperation. "You can't even _breathe_ without running into a dead body," she deadpanned.

"Oi! There was no dead body this morning!" Conan pointed out, annoyed.

"Only because KID's amazing good fortune offset your astronomically abysmal one," Ai blandly refuted.

The boy huffed, unable to come up with an appropriate comeback.

* * *

He coughed and hacked out a muttered curse as smoke filled the gallery. It had been a month and a half since Conan had last seen KID, and that had been when the thief had disguised as his older detective self in order to throw Chianti off his scent. Conan had yet to thank the thief for his help—which he intended to do tonight—but he also had more than a few questions he wished to be answered. He stumbled his way to the museum entrance, positive that KID would try to make his escape via disguise. He exited the smoky side exhibit hall and took a moment to breathe in the cleaner air in the lobby.

Members of the Kaitou KID Task Force littered the entrance; Conan's cerulean eyes darted between each face, studying them briefly while also cataloguing their body language. One fellow seemed particularly antsy, and he grinned. Target found.

Tossing a cutesy, innocent smile on his face, the shrunken detective pattered up to the restless policeman and tugged childishly on his hand. "Ne, ne, onii-san, could you help me?" he asked, blinking up innocently.

The man glanced down and gave him a nervous half-smile. "Sure, boya. What do you need?" he asked, bending down to rest his hands on his knees and bringing him to Conan's eye level.

"Could you come with me to check the doors to ensure they're locked? I'm not strong enough to shove and rattle the doors hard enough to thoroughly test them," he explained. It was a well-established fact that Edogawa Conan was, for all intents and purposes, an unofficial member of the Task Force. Inspector Nakamori Ginzo had learned over the years to listen to the boy's suggestions whenever he made it to Kaitou KID's heists, and had ordered his men to abide by the prodigy's sometimes odd requests without question.

"Sure," the riot gear-clad officer said, and the pair detached themselves from the cluster of men to survey the glass doors.

Conan kept up the pretense of checking the first three doors before he turned and boldly asked, "Why did you do it?"

The officer blinked. "Eh?" he vocalized, his face a mask of polite confusion.

"Acting dumb doesn't suit you, KID," Conan snorted, and he was rewarded with a familiar grin creeping its way across an unfamiliar face.

KID's body language changed from anxious to confident. "Do what, Tantei-kun?"

Conan's eyes flashed with excitement. He had KID all to himself, and the thief had not yet made a move to flee. "Why did you agree to pretend to be my older self, knowing the risks?"

"Hmm," KID hummed, exaggeratedly pondering the question as he tapped an index finger to his lips. His eyes met the detective's, and he answered with a completely serious mien, "Because I love you too much."

Heat flooded his face and neck as the child detective glared and snapped through gritted teeth, "I was asking seriously, KID."

"And I answered seriously as well, Tantei-kun," KID replied. When it became readily apparent that Conan did not believe him at all, the magician sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "I wasn't joking, Meitantei," he said, dropping his hand. His eyes latched onto Conan's once more as he continued, "Is it really that wrong for me to care?"

Caught wrong-footed, Conan frowned. "Well, no…" he fumbled, brain still trying to wrap around this particular revelation. This new piece of evidence operated contrary to all of his previous dealings with the phantom thief. Before, while Kaitou KID had done his best to ensure that no one attending his heists were injured—aside from a bruised ego or twenty—he had also—to his knowledge—not gone out of his way to physically protect people. "What changed?"

KID sighed. "I'm more observant than you think, Meitantei, and ever since the Mystery Train I've kept tabs on a number of people in order to see what this Organization you're up against is capable of. How could I not worry, when you are stuck in a body that is that much more helpless?" There was no pity in his tone, and Conan was infinitely glad: he would have knocked a fully powered soccer ball into the man's face otherwise. What he both heard in KID's voice and saw in his eyes instead was admiration and respect for a rival stuck in a particularly perilous situation, yet bravely forging onwards and making the best of what he had to work with. It made Conan feel oddly touched and honored.

"I—I never really thought about it like that," he said at length, and the magician chuckled.

"Of course. You're usually too busy trying to catch the murderer to realize how much of a trooper you are," KID said with a grin.

Conan sighed, then snorted in exasperation. With a wave of his hand, he gestured to the door. "Leave," he said. When KID blinked, he expounded. "I won't chase you this time, since you really did help me out back then. Thank you, by the way."

The phantom thief smiled softly. "You know I wouldn't leave people in a lurch, Tantei-kun," he gently chided.

The shrunken detective returned the smile. "I know you wouldn't." His blue eyes darted across the lobby and he said, "Give me ten seconds to create a distraction before you pick the lock, okay?"

* * *

Kaitou KID hummed cheerily to himself as he strolled out of the museum and through the crowd gathered around the entrance. With his uniform, he easily bypassed the barricade and made his way towards the police cars, though he had no intention of hotwiring one. Once he was out of sight, he pulled out the Corona of Apollo and held up the heliodore to the moon. When no ruby light emanated from the stone, he sighed and tucked it back into a pocket of his flack jacket.

"Magician Under the Moonlight-san," a voice greeted, and the thief whirled in order to seek out the owner of the voice.

His eyes fell upon the recumbent form of Haibara Ai, who leaned casually against one of the patrol vehicles. "Ojou-san," he replied in greeting. "No encounters with gun-toting assassins this eve?" he quipped.

Ai smirked. "Afraid not," she bantered back. She unfurled herself from the side of the car, slowly making her way to the disguised phantom thief. "Here," she said, presenting him with a small but neatly folded note.

"What's this?" the magician asked as he accepted the slip of paper and tucked it into another pocket to read later in private.

The strawberry blonde turned and retreated into the darkness, her voice drifting to his ears. "A promise, Kaitou KID-san."

When he finally made it back to the safety of his house and had stowed away any and all evidence of his being Kaitou KID, a freshly showered nineteen-year-old Kuroba Kaito unfolded the meticulously creased square of paper as he lay on his bed. He read it once, twice, thrice, and huffed in amusement at how extraordinarily seriously the shrunken former Organization member took her debts. He had a few ideas as to how he could utilize her knowledge of biochemistry, but at the moment they were still nebulous and rather fanciful in nature. He folded the note back up and hid it in a drawer of his nightstand before turning off the lights and burrowing under his covers, feeling just a tad safer at the knowledge that someone who had once been on the inside of that rather terrifying group was now firmly on his side instead.

 _Kaitou KID-_

 _You've done more for me than I can possibly  
repay—my debt to you is unfathomable, as is  
the depth of my gratitude. You may call on  
my aid should you require it, and I will  
endeavor to do my best to help you, if it is  
within my power and capacity to do so. I am,  
for all intents and purposes, at your beck and  
call. Please utilize me as you so choose._

 _Wishing you the best of luck in your searches,_

 _-Haibara Ai_

* * *

Author's Note: Shit, this turned out longer than I anticipated! The prompt exchange rules suggested 100-500 words, so this blew that suggestion miles-high out of the water. All things considered, I'm fairly pleased with how this turned out despite the fact that this thing grew faster than bamboo on fertilizer. I expect that the prompt writer was probably not expecting their prompt to be written from this angle, and I am eager, if anxious, to see their reaction. I know there are major plot holes, and my apologies, but I'm just too tired to care right how. To whoever it was I wrote this for, I hope you enjoyed it.

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Completed: 21.04.2016


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